Did you know that every second, 160 thousand plastic bags are used around the world? Such plastic bags have been known to end up in oceans, as their light weight results in the tendency to be carried by the wind. They then end up being eaten by marine animals, or clogging up drainage systems. At my house I had a collection of these plastic bags that I had gotten from stores. I didn’t want to throw them away, knowing how bad they are for the environment. That is, until I learned about plarn. The word plarn is a portmanteau of plastic and yarn, and it is essentially cutting up plastic bags and using them to knit or crochet, like yarn.

Supplies

For this project, you will need 20-25 grocery bags, scissors, knitting needles size US 15 with a 25-35 cm loop that allows you to knit in the round, and finally a large sewing needle or bobby pin.

Step 1: Making Plarn

To make a plastic bag usable as plarn, here is what you do. First you flatten out your grocery bag. Then you fold it lengthwise, like shown in the picture. Then you cut off the handles and sealed bottom. With the remaining section, you cut it into pieces about an inch in width. When you unfold them, they should be circular pieces of plastic.

Step 2: Connecting the Plarn

Now that you have plarn, you may wonder how do you connect the pieces to each other? All you do is tie it together, so follow the instructions in the photos if you need help with the knot. I used two different colors so it would be easier to see. If you want, you can make a bunch of plarn and wrap it into a ball, like I did, or just keep adding on pieces as you need.

Step 3: Casting On

To begin knitting, you need to first cast on, which involves getting your stitches on the needle. I am creating this video at a beginner level, for someone who doesn’t know or is still learning how to knit. If you already know how to cast on then you can skim over this section. We will be casting on between 50 and 60 stitches, it is up to you and how big you want to make your bag. The first 2 photos are how to get the plarn tied onto the needle, and the rest show casting on. I don’t know how to upload videos on this so I am using photos, but if you don’t follow you can watch a simple YouTube tutorial on how to cast on. Once again, you should keep going until you have between 50 and 60 stitches.

Step 4: Knitting

Knitting in the round is very similar to casting on, the only difference is that you drop the first stitch and leave the second one on the other needle. Once again, if my tutorial is not helpful there are tons of great resources for beginners to learn how to knit. You need to knit between 50 and 60 rows, I did 50.

Step 5: Casting Off

Cast off once you have completed roughly 50-60 rows, it’s very easy to count the rows if you want to know, but honestly with something as simple as a bag you can just go until it feels right. I feel like a broken record, but just as a reminder, this is not meant to be a “how to knit” instructable, so feel free to find someone who is better suited to teach that, or even better, feel free to critique my knitting skills, the constructive criticism would be much appreciated.

Step 6: Handles for the Bag

To make the bag handles is a slightly different strategy because you do not knit in the round. Once you knit one row, you switch the hands that the needles are in and go again. The handle is 4-5 stitches wide (I did 4) and 70-80 stitches long (I did 80). To finish the handle you do the same as shown in previous step.

Step 7: Finishing Touches (sewing)

The last thing to do is sew together the bottom of the bag (since it’s just a tube) and then to sew on the handles. I used a bobby pin to sew it because I couldn’t find the right sized needle, but it worked pretty well, and fits with the theme of reusing things. Just sew in and out through the loops on the alternate sides, and pull tightly when you’re done. You can then either leave it on that side and push the knot to the inside so it looks more clean, or turn it inside out. Both ways give a different look for the final product, so it’s your decision. The handles are sewn on in the same way.

Step 8: All Done!

The final is now complete! You now have a reusable bag made from plastic bags that would have gone to a landfill, or worse: a fish’s stomach. It is also very strong and durable, so you can carry many things in it. Now that you know how to make this, you can get bags from other friends and knit for them. This also works with crochet, but I don’t know how to crochet so I don’t know what the pattern would be. You can make many things with plarn, not just bags. You could make sweaters, jackets, book protectors, if you crochet then amigurumi, etc.